India-Chile trade can reach $5 bn by 2014: CII

New Delhi, March 15 (IANS) The bilateral trade between India and Chile can reach $5 billion by 2014 from $2.1 billion last fiscal, according to an industry lobby report released Sunday. The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) report, released a day before Chilean President Michelle Bachelet arrives here for a five-day official visit, said India should set up bilateral forums with Latin American countries like Chile to bolster trade.

India’s overall trade with Chile expanded from $586.65 million in 2005-06 to $2.1 billion in 2007-08 and it will further go up in the future, the CII said.

“The chief barriers to trade are distance, lack of information, poor connectivity of air and shipping lines, language, unfamiliarity with local trade regulations, etc. However, these factors have not deterred robust trade between Chile and key exporting nations in Asia,” the report said.

Given the strong industrial profile of both countries, as well as synergies arising from large number of agri-climatic zones in both countries, it is evident that there is high potential in bilateral trade, it added.

According to the industry lobby, India can learn about raising agricultural productivity from Chile. Experts from Chile could provide consultancy services to Indian corporates as well as the government in several areas.

On the other hand, India can provide expertise on IT, education, healthcare, training and skill development and software services to the Latin American country, the report said.

The CII further urged both countries to explore newer areas of cooperation like mining, manufacturing, railways, leather and textiles. India’s engineering goods, machinery, equipment and machine tools may find a good market in Chile.

Defence production and trade are other areas of high potential.

India’s exports to Chile have gone up by almost three times since 2003-04. But the export level is still far below the potential and Chile forms a minuscule proportion of India’s total exports.

India’s imports from Chile have quadrupled between 2005-06 and 2006-07. However, imports moderated somewhat to $1.8 billion in 2007-08.